Copa Libertadores. Lady Luck played a joke this year, mostly affecting the second round of the tournament. Yet, considering the state of some famous clubs, the role of the draw may not had been decisive factor. Flamengo qualified directly to the second round as current cup holders. Argentina and Bolivia were in group 1 – easy for the gauchos, one may think. There was some irregularity in the opening match between The Strongest and River Plate, for the hosts won 1-0, but the points were awarded to River Plate. However, everything settled back to the normal in the second leg: River destroyed their visitors. One Jose Pekerman scored the only goal for the Bolivians. River Plate sailed easily throw the preliminary group, but not so Boca Juniors – they lost their matches in Bolivia, they were unable to beat Jorge Wilstermann at home, and the derby with River Plate went against them. Boca was eliminated, the only real surprise in the first phase of the tournament.
1.River Plate (Buenos Aires) 6 5 1 0 9- 2 11
2.The Strongest (La Paz) 6 2 1 3 6- 7 5
3.Boca Juniors (Buenos Aires) 6 1 2 3 3- 5 4
4.Jorge Wilstermann (Cochabamba) 6 1 2 3 5- 9 4
Group 2 was the toughest and, to a point, unfair, because Brazil and Uruguay were in it. Defensor (Montevideo) was the obvious outsider, but only one of Sao Paulo, Gremio, and Penarol was to go ahead. As it happened, the Brazilian clubs struggled, Defensor played bravely, and Penarol was the strongest, losing only one match – visiting Gremio, 1-3. Gremio had a good chance to take the second place, for they played the last group match at home against already bottom placed Defensor – but the outsiders won 2-1. Yet, the match did not matter – the Brazilians were already out.
1.Peñarol (Montevideo) 6 4 1 1 7- 3 9
2.São Paulo FC 6 2 2 2 7- 6 6
3.Grêmio (Porto Alegre) 6 1 3 2 6- 6 5
4.Defensor (Montevideo) 6 1 2 3 4- 9 4
Group 3. Colombia and Venezuela. The most predictable group and no matter how well or bad the teams played, the expected became a reality.
1.Tolima (Ibagué) 6 3 3 0 9- 3 9
2.Atlético Nacional (Medellín) 6 3 2 1 6- 4 8
3.Estudiantes (Mérida) 6 1 2 3 3- 7 4
4.Táchira (San Cristóbal) 6 0 3 3 2- 6 3
Group 4. Chile and Ecuador, the Chileans were favourites, of course, and did not falter. Perhaps the only sign of what could happen later flashed in the very last group match – Cobreloa hosted the second leg with Colo-Colo and won 2-0. The result was crucial for the first place – before it, Cobreloa was a point behind. Colo-Colo needed just a tie and having been historically the stronger club, it was perhaps expected that they would manage to go ahead. But Cobreloa had entirely point of view.
1.Cobreloa (Calama) 6 3 3 0 9- 2 9
2.Colo Colo (Santiago) 6 3 2 1 8- 5 8
3.LDU (Quito) 6 1 2 3 8-12 4
4.Barcelona (Guayaquil) 6 1 1 4 8-14 3
Group 5. Peru and Paraguay, the second toughest group in the first stage. Olimpia was more or less the favourite and did not disappoint. Deportivo Municipal was the worst team at this stage – they lost all matches.
1.Olimpia (Asunción) 6 4 2 0 12- 3 10
2.Mariano Melgar (Arequipa) 6 4 0 2 9-10 8
3.Sol de América (Asunción) 6 2 2 2 9- 8 6
4.Deportivo Municipal (Lima) 6 0 0 6 3-12 0
Second stage, serving also as semi-final. The five group winners and Flamengo, divided into 2 round-robin groups, the winners going to the final. Here happened the worst: Flamengo, Penarol, and River Plate made Group 1. Group 2 was inferior. Yet, the expected tough, close, possibly entangled into equal points race did not happened – River Plate, seemingly very strong in the first stage, was just a punching bag now – they lost every match they played, leaving the fight to Penarol and Flamengo. Penarol was 2 points ahead before the last game – which was in Rio de Janeiro, unfortunately. Flamengo needed a win and was expected to win, but Penarol was not at all ready to go out: they won 1-0 and finished first with perfect record.
1.Peñarol (Montevideo) 4 4 0 0 8- 3 8
2.Flamengo (Rio de Janeiro) 4 2 0 2 7- 4 4
3.River Plate (Buenos Aires) 4 0 0 4 5-13 0
Group 2 was expected to be a race between two clubs – the Colombians, Tolima, did not count. The program worked for that too – the last two group matches were between Cobreloa and Olimpia. Olimpia made no mistake in the match before the big clash: they won at home 2-0 against Tolima and lead the group with 3 points. Cobreloa had 2. The first match was in Asincion and Cobreloa managed a 1-1 tie, which did change their position in the table, but there was still a game and Cobreloa was the host – only win was getting them to the final and they achieved it – 2-0.
1.Cobreloa (Calama) 4 2 1 1 5- 2 5
2.Olimpia (Asunción) 4 1 2 1 4- 3 4
3.Tolima (Ibagué) 4 1 1 2 2- 6 3
The final – between one of the most successful South American clubs and a team from a country which never won Copa Libertadores, but also the team which played at the previous year final. The winners of 1982 were out, but the losing finalist of 1982 was again at the final. May be this time they would be successful. Naturally, Penarol had their own ambitions, especially because the last time they reached the final was in the distant 1970 and they won the cup for last time long time before their last final: in 1966. So, old power versus a maverick club, which emerged from the lower leagues only a few years ago. Interestingly, good luck was still with Cobreloa – so far, they played their last and decisive matches at home. The final went the same way – the opening leg was in Montevideo. And Cobreloa had much to smile after the last whistle.
1st leg. Centenario, Montevideo, 26-11-1982
Peñarol – Cobreloa 0-0
Peñarol: G. Fernández, W. Olivera, N. Gutiérrez, V. Diogo, Bossio, J.V. Morales,
V. Ramos, Saralegui, F. Morena, Jair Gonçalves, W. Silva (D. Rodríguez).
Cobreloa: Wirth, Soto, E. Gómez, Tabilo, Alarcón, Escobar, Letelier, Merello (Puebla), Siviero, R. Gómez, W. Olivera (Rubio).
Referee: Assis de Aragão (Brazil)
Attendance: 55,248
Cobreloa had the edge, but nothing was certain – many finals were decided by a third match, including the very final Cobreloa played in 1981. By names, Penarol had the stronger squad. Cobreloa, however, was perfect precisely in their last, all-decisive matches at home. Hard to tell… and hard it was on the field.
It was 0-0 one minute before the final whistle and a third match was to be played… when Penarol scored.
And from another angle:
Fernando Morena delivered, as he did so many times – but may be there was no goal like this one in his long career: 1-0 in the midst Santiago, just before the final whistle. A golden goal, giving Copa Libertadores to Penarol. The struggle was over, the match was over.
2nd leg. Estadio Nacional, Santiago, 30-11-1982
Cobreloa – Peñarol 0-1
89′ Morena 0-1
Cobreloa: Wirth, E. Gómez, Soto, Tabilo (Martínez), Alarcón, Escobar, Rubio,
Merello, Siviero, R. Gómez, W. Olivera (Letelier).
Peñarol: G. Fernández, V. Diogo, N. Gutiérrez, W. Olivera, J.V. Morales, Bossio,
Saralegui, Vargas, Jair Gonçalves, F. Morena, Ramos (D. Rodríguez).
Referee: Romero (Argentina)
Attendance: 70,400
Walter Olivera received Copa Libertadores.
And what more deserving picture of the two legends – Walter Olivera and Fernando Morena – holding the Cup. Their first. At last.
One can feel sorry for Cobreloa – brave season, only to lose at the last minute. And losing the big final for second year in a row… And by a single goal… Tough. But Cobreloa, as good as they were, lacked big names in their squad and in South America personalities often counted more than collective play.
Penarol won their 4th Copa Libertadores and their first since 1966. The long wait was over, they were again kings of South America, they went ahead of Nacional after trailing them on the internacional stage after 1970, and finally the great stars of this era – Olivera and Morena – won a really big trophy. And there was something more: Nacional won Copa Libertadores in 1980, but their squad was pretty much made of old, nearing the end of their careers, players. Penarol had much promising squad – Walter Olivera, Fernando Morena, and Juan Morales were aging, but behind them were younger players, still rising stars – Victor Diogo, Nelson Gutierez, Gustavo Fernandez, Miguel Bossio, Walter Silva, Verancio Ramos, Mario Saralegui, and the Brazilian striker Jair Gonsalves. It was clear, that the club would not be able to keep most of them for long – and it did not – but the group was big enough to provide for continual success. These players defined Uruguayan football in 1980s, as it happened – they just established their names in 1982. Considering the difficulties the Uruguayan football had at this time, the future of Penarol was quite good – especially when compared to Nacional’s. Considering the difficulties the Uruguayan football had, one may say that Penarol was not particularly great team – and here personalities must be noticed: Penarol had individuals able to make a difference, to win a game alone, if necessary – Morena just scored a winning goal, for instance – and Cobreloa had no similar players. The whole difference between 0-0 and 1-0, the whole difference between winning a cup and losing again a final.